Jeep Wrangler

Comments

Now that sounds nice - none of the dealers around here have the '05s yet. I would have at least test driven the 6 speed, though I still think I would have bought the auto.

Perhaps DC is re-thinking the grey flare issue - I'm sure we aren't the only ones who think it looks bad.

There's frost on the roofs today! Of course, the weather is only teasing us out here - it is supposed to get really hot again next week.

My other half isn't too sure about the seats in the Unlimited. The seat backs are designed differently and don't have support in quite the same places. They aren't uncomfortable at all (not like the Taco!) - just different.

I still haven't come up with a name. The color is just a brighter, more saturated version of the color they use on Forest Service vehicles, so I thought about using that theme. Ruled out Ranger - I don't want anyone to think I have a Ford. Ruled out Scout - it isn't made by International Harvester (does anyone remember their Scouts? I do, thought they were wonderful and would have loved to own one when I was in college). Thought of Kit (as in Kit Carson) might be OK, but that's been taken - it isn't exactly a high tech car like Knight Rider had. I'm just no good at naming anything! I didn't name my Noble Black Steed, he named himself. If I don't come up with something soon, I'll wait and see if this one names him/herself too.

I think I can explain the painted flares. From what I've read on other forums, there will be 3 trim levels for the Unlimited in '05: base, premium, and rubicon. The base version gets the dull gray flares, premium gets a few extra gadgets (like the fancy mirror on mtngal's) along with painted flares and a chrome grill surround, and you know all about the Rubi version. The thing that confuses me about the one you saw was the info I had said the Premiums got graphite painted flares, like the Columbia and RME versions of the SWB in '04.

only two things I can think of that would give you the feeling of loose steering would be if the owners had done either or both of the following: 1) aired the tires down for off-roading and not aired them back up for the ride home, or 2) left the sway bar disconnected when you were driving. Either of those will cause a less than ideal driving experience on road. Glad you enjoyed the off-roading. Remember, there is only one Jeep!

Congrats again on the Unlimited! I hope you love it as much as I love mine. I saw the pics you posted, and I must say I like the green better than I thought I would, especially with the chrome grill accents. How about "Kermit" for a name? Perhaps we could start a "Name Harriet's Jeep" contest! I'm still trying to come up with a name for my yellow Unlimited...I'm thinking maybe "Joon"...any comments?

Well, the flares may have been graphite, but it seems that they were a good match for the body color. Could be just coincidence that the gaphite flares match the silver body paint? Or maybe they were just close enough that I THOUGHT they matched?

That is WEIRD! I don't think I will ever be able to see an SE and wonder if it has the 4.0 L. I will ALWAYS see an SE and think "four banger." (Not that there is anything wrong with the four banger for lots of people's needs.)

Next thing you are gonna tell me that the Dana 44 is optional on the SE????

I didn't much care for the chrome grill on that Unlimited that I saw this AM. It was too much chrome for my taste. I like the chrome OK on Mtngal's Unlimited, since it just outlines the slots in the grill. That Unlimited this AM had the whole grill chrome, though, and, in my opinion, that was too much chrome.

The Rubicon owners I rode did both of the things twylie mentioned: they disconnected their anti-sway bars and they aired down before hitting the hard stuff.

The driving I did was on the trail, not on the street, and the steering wheel was all over the place with no connection to the "road" surface. I guess the above factors contributed largely to that feeling...

By the way, let's say I buy an '05 Sport with the 30" Canyon package, the Track-Lok, and 4-wheel discs (the last two are part of the "Brake and Traction" group for '05). What am I giving up to the Rubicon? And am I going to be significantly handicapped on these off-road trips compared to them? I assume all Wranglers are highly capable off-road - am I right?

If you saw an 05 Unlimited with the chrome grill, it is what they call the "H - Premium" package and is to have "extra wide painted body colored" fender flares. All Rubicons are to have neutral gray flares. We will have to see some to tell neutral gray from medium gray.

The Dana 44 is optional on Sport, standard on Rubicon and Unlimited. But now that you have quit, a smoker's package option is available.

Also, in the fine print, SEs, Xs, Sports and base Unlimiteds with Khaki interiors are to come with Khaki fender flares.

But, if you are interested in off roading, and it sounds like you are hooked (one time is all it usually takes), then by all means, get the Rubicon, if you can swing the extra bucks.

You couldn't begin to modify a Sport to the capabilities of a Rubicon without spending three or four times as much money as the price differential between the Sport and the Rubicon.

You get Dana 44 axles front and back with the Rubicon (You would get the Dana 44 in back with the Sport and the package you mentioned, I believe, but you would have a Dana 30 up front with the Sport).

BY ALL MEANS, GET THE DANA 44 REAR AXLE IN WHATEVER JEEP YOU GET!

The Rubicon has selectable lockers front and back. Selectable lockers are VERY expensive. They are nice, because lockers are not desireable on pavement. It would be nice to be able to turn the lockers off when you are on pavement, and you can do that with selectable lockers. The rear differential in the Rubicon is a limited slip when the locker is not on. Talk about best of both worlds!

You get a 4:1 trasfer case low range with the Rubicon vs. 2.72:1 for the Sport. This gives you a real nice, slow crawl speed while allowing a more "street friendly" gearing in the differentials.

The Rubicons come with 31" x 10.50" Goodyear Wrangler MT/R tires, and those puppies are great off road tires and they are very expensive.

Joe, get the Rubicon, if you possibly can. But, you would be happy with a Sport (assuming you got the Dana 44 rear diff), if you can't swing the Rubicon.

Ask any and all questions you may have, but it would also be a good idea to read LOTS of the posts in here.

You might pick up a little something of use in my website, if you want to check it out.

Jeep dealers are not known to give much more discount on the previous model year units. This always baffled me: why would people pay about the same amount of money for a Jeep that is considered a year old? I guess people do it, and that's how the left over models get sold.

The sad thing is that the 05s will have BUTT UGLY gray flares. That alone would make me go with an 04, even considering what I said above.

I would have to make arrangements for the dealer to replace the gray flares with some black ones, if I bought an 05. Trouble is, they don't make the tops in black any more either.

Guess that would just take me out of the market for an 05 and force me to go with an 04.

Kermit is a great name, but that's the name of Paul's Wrangler. I'm leaning toward Scout at the moment.

We took it up Lieber Mountain today and I added a couple of photos to my album in webshots (address is: http://community.webshots.com/album/188823439kZLZAP?745 ). It still looks great, even though it is now dusty. The interesting thing is that the forest service road I was on had been in the middle of the Pines fire - so there were signs of bulldozers and blackened trees and brush for much of the drive. It still amazes me how much burned in that fire. Anyone heading out to the great outdoors - please be careful out there!

The right answer to your question whether to buy a Rubicon or a Sport comes down to what are you planning on doing? I have a stock Sport (except it has BFG AT tires on it) and it is very good off-road. It goes where I want to go without any problems. About the only reason for getting the Rubi is to get the lockers, and perhaps you'll be doing the types of off-roading where you will need them. If so, get the Rubi. If you don't have the extra bucks, get the Sport and have a blast!

As far as the 6 speed - I didn't wait for it to come out. There's nothing wrong with the current 5 speed - I've never felt a desire for an additional gear, and I would guess that if I were using it for a daily-driver, I would mostly start in 2nd gear (I'm assuming that the extra gear is a lower gear). I get tired enough going through 5 gears in daily driving (my first pickup truck had 3-on-the-tree). Of course, you could always do what I did this time and buy an automatic...

I ended up getting $2,000 cash back - $1,000 basic cash back, $500 for financing with Chrysler and $500 military. That and the grey flares were enough for me to buy now rather than wait for the 2005's.

Trac-Lok is a limited slip differential, and is available on non-Rubicon models. It uses a clutch pack and is automatic in operation.

The Rubicon has Tru-Lok, which is a combination limited slip/locking differential in the rear axle. In normal operation it acts as a limited slip using worm gears. It can also be locked at the flick of a switch. The front Tru-Lok is a selectable locker which reverts to open differential operation in normal use.

To play devils advocate, the other side of that coin is that the extra equipment weighs another 300lbs or so, and the lower ratio in the transfer case is of no benefit unless you're doing serious rock crawling with a manual transmission. Due to its extra wheelbase it's unlikely an Unlimited would ever shine in that application.

I think it was the Green Hornet. Maybe Wild Thing would be more appropriate - the color is wild all right!

You can always buy an Unlimited with one top and buy the other top aftermarket. I've always thought that it was better to buy the factory hard top because the Wrangler would be already wired for the defroster and back window/washer. Then get an aftermarket soft top. Others say they have picked up hard tops at great prices, so it can be done both ways, though I doubt there will be any good deals on Unlimited hard tops, so I think that I'd start with the hard top, if you really want both.

I was assuming that you would be doing the "rock crawling" type of wheelin', since I also assumed from your username that you are in AZ. I have never done any rock crawling, but I guess that's about all you do out there in the West, right?

It is more important for rock crawling to have that 4:1 low range in the T-case than it is for the wheelin' that is done around here, but there are situations that I get into at Turkey Bay where it would be nice to have (like Buttpucker Gulch and Rocky Top).

A full locker will keep an axle pulling, even when the tire on one side is completely off the ground. Limited slip requires at least a little bit of traction on each side, unless you use the brake trick to "fool" it (use the brake and the gas pedal at the same time, and the brake makes the differential "think" there is traction, since there is resistance).

Are you thinkin' Unlimited Rubicon or just the standard Wrangler Rubicon? The extra length of the Unlimited version would have both some advantages and some disadvantages for wheelin'. Climbing a steep rock, the extra wheelbase would make it less likely to flip over backwards. One disadvantage would be in break-over angle. With the front and rear wheels being further apart, you would hang the belly on places that a shorter wheel base Jeep would go over OK. I'm not sure about departure angle, but it makes sense that it would suffer from the extra five inches of Jeep behind the rear wheels.

I'm gone for 4 days and there are a 100+ posts - yikes! Just got back from a boating trip on Lake Norris in Tennessee. Ivan hit us on Friday - I think I head that we saw 20 inches of rain there. Yikes! That number sounds a little high, but the lake level rose bigtime. When we put the ski boat in, there was a dock sitting on dry ground by the launch ramp. By the time we pulled the boat out Sunday morning, the dock was floating. Couldn't believe it! However, the lake is basically in the Smokies, and is rained non-stop for a day and a half. Hopefully no one got hit with anything too bad. I live far enough North that I didn't have to deal with any issues at home. Hope everyone in the path is doing OK.

It's doing very well thanks Tom. I was able to stop wearing the body brace (looks like body armor) last Friday. I still can't believe what a positive result I've had. Apart from only being allowed to lift light things for the present, my life is back to normal. I've got a course of physiotherapy to do to get my strength back, then I'm pretty much good to go.

To keep on track with the board topic, it's so nice to feel the support of the Sahara's seat against the small of my back again!

the local dealer here has offered me a 2004 with a sticker of 30,750 for 26,750. I am not sure if that includes the 1,000 rebate right now but I am going to check. It is khaki and I want Patriot Blue but with an offer like that it may be hard to pass up. It is also an "Auto-tragic" and I prefer a manual. I am going to go test drive it this week and see what I think of the auto ...